


One-Night Stands

by monaquinn



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Roommates, abusive ozai is abusive, every cliche in the book, good times man good times, hot yue is hot, i love commas sorry, idiots everywhere!, omg i forgot jet is in this how i hate him, sokka is an idiot, there is a karen, zuko is an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24566464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monaquinn/pseuds/monaquinn
Summary: This happens at least once every other week. Sokka will go out one Friday night, get way drunker then he can handle, and bring home an exceptionally attractive person to fall in bed with.  The mornings are usually pretty awkward, but nothing Zuko can’t handle, because nobody really seems to stick. Sokka is the king of one-night stands, never sharing his bed with the same stranger more than once.It’s good for Zuko, that these are one night affairs. It makes it easier. It would be harder to love Sokka if he had any sort of attachment to one particular person.Yes, thats right, Zuko is hopelessly in love with his best friend. A love that is (clearly) not received.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Yue (Avatar), yue and sokka but not really
Comments: 50
Kudos: 750





	One-Night Stands

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to a lot of mitski while writing this.

There is a beautiful girl in Zuko’s kitchen eating his Lucky Charms cereal. Scratch that, the most beautiful girl he’s even seen is in his kitchen eating his Lucky Charms cereal.

Her hair is such a pure shade of blonde it is almost a silvery-white, her skin a rich shade of brown. To top it all off, she has the (second) bluest pair of eyes he has ever seen. She is wearing a sort of sky colored bohemian style skirt with a slit so high he feels indecent to even look at it, and a white crop top. There is a pair of extremely high heels scattered across the floor. Clothing for a night at the club. 

If he wasn’t gay as fuck, he would be very attracted to her. 

She hasn’t noticed him yet. Clearly nursing a hangover, she is looking at a tall glass of orange juice as if it is going to save her life. When she goes to wipe her bleary eyes (smudging a considerable amount of mascara, by the way) her gaze lands on him. 

She drops her spoon in surprise. He gives a awkward wave. 

“Are you…” she begins, clearly feeling very uncomfortable, “Sokka’s roommate?” 

“The one and only.” He says, plopping down on the seat next to hers. 

The girl looks as if she wants to disappear into thin air. However, to Zuko, it’s just a normal Saturday morning. 

This happens at least once every other week. Sokka will go out one Friday night, get way drunker then he can handle, and bring home an exceptionally attractive person to fall in bed with.The mornings are usually pretty awkward, but nothing Zuko can’t handle, because nobody really seems to stick. Sokka is the king of one-night stands, never sharing his bed with the same stranger more than once. Well, there was this one really weird guy who insisted on being called ‘Jet’ _(like that’s even a real name?)_ who lasted for about three weeks before Sokka hauled him over the coals, but that’s beside the point. 

It’s good for Zuko, that these are one night affairs. It makes it easier. It would be harder to love Sokka if he had any sort of attachment to one particular person. 

Yes, _thats right,_ Zuko is hopelessly in love with his best friend. A love that is (clearly) not received. 

Ever since they were randomly paired together to be roommates their first year of college, Zuko had found himself head-over-heels for the other boy. He couldn’t help it, Sokka was an easy person to fall in love with. He was _so_ beautiful, and kind, and funny. Sokka was the only person there for Zuko during his darkest times, and helped him see the light and optimism in things. 

But as the years went on, and they became closer friends, the dull pain the crush started out as turned into a ever-present heartbreak. Now they shared an apartment together, Zuko in his first year of grad school, Sokka working a dead end job at a local coffee shop, and it was much too hard to confess his feelings. He had too much at risk. If things didn’t go well, he would lose his roommate, his best friend, his _entire life._ He would rather suffer in silence for the rest of entirety than risk the chance of losing Sokka. 

So, he just accepts these one-night stands for what they are, and eats the terrible breakfast food Sokka whips up for his houseguests in the morning. Sokka is never a rude housekeeper, even if he has just drunkenly fucked the person in question. He’s just nice like that.

Except, Sokka is missing at the current moment. _Weird._

The girl seems to pick up on his current state of confusion. “Sokka is in the shower, he just told me to grab whatever I wanted.” He hates the way she says his name, and feels a sharp pang in his chest. 

Not wanting to talk to the supermodel beside him, he lets out a indifferent huff. Usually his rude demeanor keeps people away. 

She clearly doesn’t seem to notice his disinterest in the conversation, and continues, “My name is Yue. I work with Sokka.”

_She works with him?_ The pang in his chest turns into a raging fire, burning where it hurts the most. This wasn’t a random hook-up, they see each other every day! Is he finally going to lose Sokka for good? 

His tragic train of thought is interrupted by the loud voice he simply adores so much. “Morning, Ladies!” Sokka calls out, waltzing into the kitchen. He is wearing just a towel ( _could this day get any worse?)_ and Zuko has to forcibly move his eyes away from his roommates exceptionally defined chest. He needs to act normal. He needs to save face. 

Zuko spends the rest of the breakfast, right until the moment Sokka shows Yue the door, studying the colorful lumps of barely-marshmallow-tasting-marshmellows floating in his slightly pink milk, not eating a single spoonful. However, Sokka doesn’t seem to notice his exceptionally bad mood, already beginning to tell Zuko interesting stories about his night. 

“You’ll never believe it, Toph literally punched the bartender for hitting on her. It was so funny. God, you need to come out with us more often! I know you don’t drink, but it’s so much fun and-“

Zuko cuts him off. “You work with her?” He asks. He HAS to know. 

“Oh, yeah. We share a shift on Sundays and Wednesdays.” Sokka says it like its nothing, as if the person he just slept with is a casual coworker. 

The broken part of Zuko’s heart hates him for it. 

———

The days go by, and for some strange reason, Zuko is unable to shake his worries about this Yue girl. Sokka seems to find it considerably weird that Zuko continues to press random questions about her, but he can’t help himself. They are co-workers, possibly friends, possibly something more. 

“It was just a random hook-up. You’re just hoping it’s something because you want to split the rent three-ways, cheap-skate.” Sokka jokes, nudging him playfully on the arm. 

Despite this reassurance, the beautiful girl remains in his brain, taunting him. 

He finds himself going to Sokka’s place of work more and more. It isn’t his ideal place to study, he prefers the peace and quiet of the library, but hanging out with Sokka during his break makes it all worth it. At least, that’s what he tells himself anyways. Deep down, he knows why he is really here. He needs to see Sokka and Yue with his own eyes. 

Even in her drab work uniform, Yue is effervescent. She whips up peoples orders with a quiet sort of grace, looking like a delicate nymph next to Sokka, who shouts profanities and drops peoples orders. 

How could he even hold onto the tiny glimmer of hope that his feelings may be reciprocated with Yue standing right in front of him? She was stunning, and he was just a lanky piece of shit with a ghastly deformity left by an abusive father. The results of a lighter and a beer bottle smashed across his face. Who could ever be attracted to someone like him? Sokka certainly couldn’t. 

One day, when Sokka messes up yet another drink and gets yelled at by a customer probably named Karen with a wicked case of a can-I-speak-to-the-manager hair cut, Yue breaks out into hysterical laugher and buries her head into Sokka’s shoulder. The scene of domestic happiness is too much for Zuko to handle. 

God, he needs a cigarette. 

Deep down he knows he should say goodbye to Sokka before he leaves, but he can’t bring himself to look the other boy in the eyes, so he quietly packs his things and leaves the cafe. Sitting on a bench a few blocks down, he fumbles through his messenger bag to find his emergency pack of cigarettes. Sokka thinks he quit, and he _mostly_ has, but sometimes his emotions overcome him and his needs the nicotine to calm him down. 

After going through the entire pack he still feels empty inside. So, he turns to drinking. 

He normally doesn’t do shit like this. The drinking stopped his sophomore year of college, when Sokka confronted him and told him that drowning himself in alcohol was not the way to solve his problems. 

Zuko can remember that day very vividly. That was the day he told Sokka about his childhood. The words had come running out of him like a faucet, telling Sokka stories he had never told anyone. He told him about the day is father beat his mother to death, and how Zuko had never stopped blaming himself for it. He told him about the constant verbal and physical abuse he suffered, the beatings, and the scars that littered his body. Sokka had held him while he cried the whole night long. 

Tonight, none of it matters. Tonight, he needs to feel absolutely nothing. 

Zuko puts his phone on do not disturb and spends the night floating from bar to bar, kissing random strangers, all until his world goes black and he can’t comprehend anything at all.

———

Zuko wakes up naked with a pounding headache and a sticky substance on his bed-sheets. 

_What happened last night?_

The rational part of his brain registers that he did not go to bed alone, and blames him for sleeping in so late. He was supposed to have an 8am lecture today, G _od._ However, he chooses to focus on the part that is wondering who in the everliving fuck he slept with last night and his current need to puke his brains out. 

He staggers to the toilet, emptying the contents of his stomach for a painful few minutes. He has dealt with worse hangovers before, he reminds himself. All he needs to do is splash some cold water on his face and he’ll be fine. 

After pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a light t-shirt, he ushers his way to the kitchen, hoping to find something he can manage to swallow without regurgitating back up. 

Instead, he finds a crying Sokka, curled up under a blanket on the couch. His hair is not in its usual ponytail, it’s slightly greasy and draped over his face. Some shitty crime drama that Sokka loves to make fun of is playing in the background, but Sokka’s glassy blue eyes are fixed on him. 

“Whats wrong?” Zuko asks, immediately sliding next to the other boy, all thoughts of his splitting headache immediately forgotten about. His heart swells. Whoever hurt Sokka is going to pay. 

“You were drinking. I hate it when you drink.” Sokka spits out, full of rage and contempt. _Oh. So this is what this is._

Trying to divert the topic, Zuko lightly murmurs, “Well- you were just saying that I need to go out more.”

“Yeah. But not like this. Not… _without me.”_ Sokka wipes a stray tear from his eye. 

He wishes he could tell Sokka that he had a rough night, that he needed something to get rid of the overcoming pain he felt daily. How he needed to erase the feeling he felt whenever he heard a love song on the radio, the feeling he felt whenever their hands brushed accidentally, the constant aching in his chest, even if it was just for one night. But he couldn’t tell. It had to stay a secret. _He couldn’t lose Sokka._

_“_ There was a random man here.” Sokka chokes out. 

“Yeah, so?” Zuko shrugs. “You do it all the time.” 

Sokka’s face snaps towards him, a flash of pain in his eyes. “Oh my god.” He says, so quiet Zuko can barely hear him. “You idiot.”

Before he can properly register what’s happening, Sokka's hand is cradling his chin and is smashing their lips together. Sokka is kissing him with such a fervor that it takes Zuko a few moments to realize that he is not dreaming before he reciprocates. He has no idea what’s happening, but he knows that he needs to take full advantage since its never going to happen again. 

The kiss ends quickly. Sokka unceremoniously pulls away and stands, taking a few steps away from the couch, pressing his body weight against the kitchen table. “I’m sorry” Sokka stumbles, “I shouldn’t have done this.”

Zuko sputters, his lips still wet from the kiss, unable to make any words out. “Wha?” 

Sokka fixes his gaze to the wall and takes several deep breaths. “The reason I have so many pointless one-night stands is to distract from the fact that I’m so in love with you. You don’t need to say anything. Actually, _please_ don’t say anything. I’m just going to continue to ramble so I never have to hear you reject me. I’ll just talk forever and ever until I die here and then I’ll never-“

Zuko isn’t going to let him finish that sentence. He stalks over, grabs Sokka by the collar, and pulls him into the deepest kiss of his life. The world flips onto it’s head. All Zuko can see is stars. He puts everything he has ever felt into the embrace, knowing that he can probably better express his feelings through a make-out session than he ever can with words. 

When they separate, mostly for a need to breathe rather than anything else, Zuko stammers out quite possibly the stupidest thing he can think of. “But.. what about Yue?” 

“Huh?” Sokka raises an eyebrow. “She’s started dating this girl, Suki, a few days ago. She’s liked her for a while. I think we were just using each other as a way to cope with our feelings more than anything else.” 

Zuko lets out a sigh of relief, and grabs for Sokka’s hand. 

Sokka tentatively grabs it back, but there is still anxiety in his eyes. “So?” 

“Don’t worry, I’m in love with you too. Dumb-ass.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I wonder what 12 year old me would say if she found out adult me was writing gay avatar fanfiction. I hope she would be proud. 
> 
> Anyways... please leave comments and kudos if you liked it. I'm in desperate need of prompts. I'll pay you to comment a prompt.


End file.
